UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Captain Nathaniel D. Bastian, a doctoral student in industrial engineering, is the recipient of two awards: the 2014 Wayne P. Hughes Junior Analyst Award and the Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Military Applications.

The Junior Analyst Award is given by the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), the leader of the national security analytic community and the largest professional society for researchers, academics and practitioners in the field of military and defense operations research. It recognizes young analysts who are making an impact on operations research.

Bastian was honored for his contributions to the Army medical and health care community, where he has developed algorithms for medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) helicopter dispatching, optimization models for MEDEVAC asset emplacement planning and health system resource allocation, predictive models for casualty estimation and force health protection, multiple criteria decision analysis models for healthcare workforce planning and other force design and requirements-based analyses.

He received the award at the 82nd MORS Symposium in June in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Bonder Scholar is awarded by the Seth Bonder Foundation and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). INFORMS is the largest professional society in the world for researchers, academics and practitioners in the field of operations research, management science and analytics.

The scholarship consists of a one-year, $4,000 grant to provide financial support for a promising new researcher.

Bastian was recognized for his efforts on military medical workforce planning under uncertainty using stochastic, multiple criteria optimization methods and simulation.

He will present his work at the INFORMS annual meeting on Nov. 9-12 in San Francisco, California.